Laughing at TV

[shadowkat]

Can't tell from reading flist, but did the first, oh ten to fifteen minutes of Heroes make anyone else laugh hysterically for fifteen minutes? Or am I the only person who found the introductory sequence with the Cheerleader absurdly amusing? In a Snakes on The Plane sort of way?

Made me laugh long and hard. ROFL. Was pointing at TV and giggling hysterically. Can't explain it.
Just hit my funny bone.

Other things that made me laugh - Studio 60 on The Sunset Strips - baby sketch (which they didn't think was funny enough) and Nancy Grace (you'd have to see Nancy Grace to understand). Oh and the bit about the reality show - which was an excellent satire on true reality shows. Studio 60's biting satire on the tv biz continues to amuse and comfort me.

I think NBC may own me on Monday nights. Two favorite Television Nights are Mondays and Fridays.
Mondays: Heroes and Studio 60
Fridays: Grey's Anatomy (yes, it's on Thursdays too, but if I miss Thurs, can watch the repeat on Fridays at the moment), and BattleStar Galatica.

Oh other shows watching : Veronica Mars, Lost, Ugly Betty, Nip/Tuck, and Desperate Housewives.
Although Nip/Tuck and Housewives are on notice. I am very close to skipping these two entirely and do not feel an overwhelming need to watch either. I'm only watching Housewives for Orson/Bree and Edie. Only watching Nip...don't really know why I'm still watching Nip when Boston Legal has just added Craig Bierko - yet another actor I've followed about ever since he played a villian in The Long Kiss Goodnight. Oh that's right, the "legal" part of Boston. Lost is also on notice, the current storyline with Sawyer/Jack and Kate is annoying the heck out of me. And, it may just be me, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to over psychoanalyze your characters or other people for that matter - that just ends badly. Sometimes you have to just sit back and let a cigar be a cigar. Do like Veronica Mars and Ugly Betty though - nice comfort shows.

Keep trying to like Doctor Who, not sure why - didn't like the original Doctor Who so odds are would not like this one, but everyone else appears to adore it. So keep trying. May just not be my thing. To be honest - Dr. Who is the type of sci-fi that I'm not fond of. Which is why I've never been given the sci-fi membership card. To get it - you have to like Dr. Who and Red Drawf. Don't. Also you should be a die-hard fan of the original Star Trek. Not. And Star Gate. Ditto. Sigh. But I like STNG, Voyager, BSG, Bablyon 5, Farscape, Star Wars, Bladerunner... Yes, I admit I have wildly unconventional tastes.

Comments

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

Well I had laughed hysterically last week when we first saw her, and her "Oh, sh_t" attitude toward her situation...so this week I was prepared for the opening and watching in fascination as she pulled herself together (so to speak). So funny!
I am really enjoying 'Heroes', I'm even enjoying those more disturbing (to me, I wrote about it at my lj) elements of power corupting.

I'd have to say that Tuesday is even bigger than Monday for me, since I've been enjoying Oprah's road trip (I don't enjoy her show normally, but this road trip has been wonderful), Jeeves & Wooster, taping Dead Like Me, watching AND taping Veronica Mars, enjoying Boston Public, and rounding off the evening with Jon Stewart! It is too much TV for one day, but a lot of fun.

I'm sorry you aren't getting into Doctor Who, personally it reminds me a lot of Buffy's first season: cheesey special effects and some great writing. But, like you, I've never gotten into Red Dwarf.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me today that I never really enjoyed the first Season of Buffy - found it sort of silly and campy and was only really watching for ASH. Terribly disappointed in what I saw. And it reminded me a great deal of the movie. Didn't bother suggesting it to friends or family - because of the "camp" factor.

Buffy did not take off for me as a series until Innocence. Prior to that? I did not tape episodes, just caught what I could live.
Just not a fan of campy sci-fi or fantasy any more.

May explain why I own seasons 4-7 on DVD and not the first three.
And why I can't get into Doctor Who or Supernatural or Smallville.

[fresne.livejournal.com]

No, you're not the only one. The cheerleader's situation is really...that was amusing in a completly horrible way. And huh, interesting way to get...revenge...justice...a new lab coat.

Hmmm, for me in Buffy it was really the moment Xander did the Morrison of Jackel evil that did me in. But yeah, the end of the season really was the point that the group of people I was watching it with went, oh, well, we were going to watch Ally McBeal, but instead, lets go get frogurt and talk about that.

Although, what's funny in your list, I enjoyed the orginal Doctor Who (looks around to hear if anyone is listening and whispers) but I could never stand Red Dwarf. It was silly in a way that grated on me.

I was talking recently with a friend of mine that one of the nicer things about tv now is that there is such a range of Sci Fi/Fantasy/Whatever options that instead of feeling like, as sci fi fans, we had to watch everything and like it (teeth grit optional), there can now be some pick and choose.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, for me in Buffy it was really the moment Xander did the Morrison of Jackel evil that did me in. But yeah, the end of the season really was the point that the group of people I was watching it with went, oh, well, we were going to watch Ally McBeal, but instead, lets go get frogurt and talk about that.

Yep. Me too. Don't know what it says about me, but when Xander did Morrison of Jackel evil, I started to pay attention.

Although, what's funny in your list, I enjoyed the orginal Doctor Who (looks around to hear if anyone is listening and whispers) but I could never stand Red Dwarf. It was silly in a way that grated on me.

Actually most people I've met who like sci-fi did. Have a friend who adored the original Doctor Who - or rather Doctor Who in the 1970s and 1980s. There's apparently been 10.
I think I saw 7, but can't be certain. I liked the actor - he had blondish brown hair and reminded me of Sherlock Holmes with his brown cloak. But the Monsters scared me or the episodes I saw did. Scared *really* easily back then. Am a little better now, but still easier than most people. And I was only 8 at the time...so there's that. Couldn't watch Space 1999 either.

Agree on Red Dwarf - a friend loaned me the first two seasons on DVD, positive I'd fall in love with them the way he did, uhm, no. Watching it reminded me of watching the comedy of The Three Stooges and it grated on my nerves in the same way that humor does. Couldn't make it through the first DVD, let alone the second. So returned both and kept my mouth shut about the series.

I was talking recently with a friend of mine that one of the nicer things about tv now is that there is such a range of Sci Fi/Fantasy/Whatever options that instead of feeling like, as sci fi fans, we had to watch everything and like it (teeth grit optional), there can now be some pick and choose.

I'd agree in the last ten years, Sci-Fi has broadened its options on film and TV. I credit George Lucas and Ridely Scott a great deal for this. Also Peter Jackson. But mostly Lucas' ability to come up with cool special effects enabling the medium to evolve. I like my new options.

[kokyu.livejournal.com]

I've given up on Heroes. It's just not working for me. I only liked one character.

I am still quite enamored with Studio 60 which I think is fantastic. I am really beginning to appreciate Sarah Paulsen's chops watching her go from Nancy Grace to that scene when the Sting song played. I am also amused to have learned how much of the Matt/Harriet story is lifted directly (in some cases virtually word for word) from the true relationship of Aaron Sorkin and Christin Chenoweth. I've also really come to appreciate how Bradley Whitford can be so natural and yet so different from his portrayal of Josh Lyman on The West Wing.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

It's nice to get a comment that is pro Studio and anti-Heroes for a change. Usually I get the reverse. Outside of four people not including myself, no one on my flist really likes Studio 60 and they all keep ragging on it, which worries me because it is lower in the ratings. While about 75% of the people posting are squeeing with wild joy over Heroes. (Not surprising since Heroes is currently the break-out hit of the season. )

I agree with you. Sarah Paulson ( a long time favorite actress of mine - I enjoyed her work on American Gothic) is really doing an amazing job. Actually - they all are. There was an excellent Nicholas Cage impression on that episode, so good that for a moment I thought they'd gotten the actor, but no too young. And Whitford, another long-time favorite, is doing a great job of playing the counter-opposite to Lyman. Read an interview with him and Perry a while back - where he said that he wasn't worried about people mistaking him for Josh, the character was different and he'd just play it how it was written. I'm also enjoying Perry. This is a show in which I adore all the actors and characters on it. Nice to find someone else who feels the same.

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Was there a Nip/Tuck episode yesterday? I can't find any torrent online.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yep. A much better one than last week.

Wouldn't know about "torrent" though since I've never downloaded episodes. Maybe it's up now? Or takes a day or so?

[frenchani.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yeah I suppose it isn't up yet. The episode of last week was awful, so it isnt' hard to do better.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I think you may enjoy this week's. Was discussing it with a friend tonight over the phone and we both agreed, this week's may be the best episode of the season so far.

Agreed. Last week's may be the worst episode I've seen. Trying to remember a worste one.
I mean, they killed a character with a bus? How lame is that?

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

The Olsen twins?!

Okay, thinking about some more, I guess that's pretty funny. But I could never starve myself enough to fit into the costume.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

Whoops. Wrong thread.

Heroes was interesting this week because it was all about the moral decisions of the characters: Isaac shooting up, Claire going for revenge, Hiro and Ando gambling, Niki's doppelganger doing whatever she can to protect Micah, Nathan's dubious fidelity, and the whole subplot with Claire's dad and his scary, silent Igor of an assistant.

And the cliffhanger was fantastic again: we're mired in the moral dilemmas of the present, and then a harbinger of the larger conflict sudden appears to clear the air and remind us what the story is REALLY all about.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL! You got lost, didn't you? Tis okay. I get lost in this damn thing all the time.

Agree on Heroes. Liked how they played with the moral decisions. Claire's, Nikki's and Issac's were interesting because they were not so much about helping themselves as helping someone else. In other words - their heart was in the right place. Claire decides to do something about the football player not because he hurt her, remember her initial response is to pretend it never happened, but because she realized from talking to the other girl that he would do it again, and again, and again unless he was stopped. (Sort of a nice twist on the whole - if you don't talk about what he did to you, he'll get away with it, but of course Claire can't because the evidence of the crime is gone.)
Hiro's actions on the other hand are the most selfish - and of the three characters, outside of maybe Isaac, Hiro pays the biggest price for giving into his friend's request.

I'm not sure I agree that the story is REALLY about saving the world. I think what it is about is the journey or the path to that point. If that makes sense. It's why Heroes fascinates me, because unlike every other serial on right now - Heroes starts before the characters are thrust together and asked to work together to deal with a crisis. It's an origin story. Usually in comics and tv shows, you get the origin story in flashbacks a la Fool for Love or Becoming or those Lost episodes or flashbacks in Veronica Mars, here we start at their origins.

Oh, I'm betting the silent Igor is Nikki's ex and Micah's father. Could be wrong. Sort of hope I am wrong. Like the fact that I can't quite predict where they are headed with this. Makes it more fun.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

What I liked about the cliffhanger was the confidence Tim Kring and his staff have in the story and the characters. It could have been taken as the worst sort of deus ex machina (and to an extent, it IS), but I see it as Kring telling us: "This is only the start of our heroes' journey, but we're going to show you Hiro when he's a little farther along, just so you know that we have this very well planned out."

BTW, the episode was written by Bryan Fuller (creator of "Dead Like Me" and "Wonderfalls") and directed by Ernest Dickerson (Spike Lee's long-time cinematographer and the director of "Juice"). Damn, that is some high-powered talent Kring has backing him up...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yep, I noticed Fuller's name as the writer, which gave me pause since he's one of those writers I'm sort of following about - mostly because of Dead Like Me. Jeff Leob wrote last week's I think.
(And Loeb is as you probably already know one of the premiere X-Men, Marvel writers out there.)
Sounds like Kring is taking the Whedon approach to writing a TV series as opposed to the Aaron Sorkin approach, which is hire a group of really good writers and trust them. Collaboration is really the only way to do it on TV. Rod Serling figured that out with the Twilight Zone.

Would agree the cliffhanger worked better than it should have. Usually I find those things sort of silly and yes, I've seen that done before. Nor was I too surprised by it. But it worked. Because it showed a Hiro who is *completely* different than the one we are currently following and a Hiro who states how *Peter* is completely different from his future self. So I'm now even more gripped by this series before - not because of the plot, let me make that clear - but the characters - I want to see how these characters evolve and the creator has given me evidence that he knows how they evolve. He has a plan. His writers have a plan. They aren't shooting at the hip or planning it as they go along, which can lead to all sorts of continuity errors. I don't see this happening with Heroes - they've got a plan, not just a plot arc, but an actual emotional/motivational arc for every character in the show. I think the only other two dramas on TV that are doing that are: BattleStar Galatica (and not quite to that degree), and The Nine. Everything else feels more like the writers are just seeing where the story leads them and we both know where that leads. It was Fury's problem with Lost and Egan's problem with Smallville - the realization that the head guy did not have a plan.

Oh speaking of writers we follow about, guess who has joined the writing staff of the Fox series "The Standoff"? Tim Minear.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

Oh speaking of writers we follow about, guess who has joined the writing staff of the Fox series "The Standoff"? Tim Minear.

He'd better hurry. Watched "Standoff" approximately 1-1/2 times, and it put me to sleep. The leads are boring, the romance angle is boring, the hostage crises are boring, and this show has imminent cancellation written all over it. It'd be nice to see Minear working with Gina Torres again, but this series could be gone before a Minear script ever hits the air.

It was Fury's problem with Lost and Egan's problem with Smallville - the realization that the head guy did not have a plan.

I always suspected that Fury quit because Abrams, Cuse and Lindelhof were pulling it out of their butts, but I was never sure. Makes sense. Never knew that about Doris. Does she explain why she quit on her tightropegirl website?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Agree on "Stand-Off" - I've tried it twice or 1 -1/2 times as well and it put me to sleep.
Or rather, I started reading a magazine during a commericial and just kept reading out of boredom.
I admit, I'm tough - Bones puts me to sleep for example, so does Friday Night Lights. Conventional dramas and procedurals don't work for me anymore. Not sure why.

I honestly don't think it will survive past one year. Am very annoyed with Fox for coming up with the brilliant idea of flipping it and House's time slots on Tuesdays after the World Series.
This means I have to choose between House and VM. VM will win, because I think it's more likely to disappear on me. While House I can pick up in reruns, also it's episodic, so not necessary to see every episode.

According to interviews with Fury - that was the reason more or less. Though he put it in a much nicer way. This was confirmed by Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly recently - one of the Sept issues, I think - in which the writers more or less told King in an interview/writers roundtable session that yes, they are figuring out the story as it progresses - or seeing how it evolves. King respected that, because hey he does that - most novelists do it. But he makes an apt comment - I want to be able to trust that you care about these characters and know where they are going. And aren't going to jump the shark on me. I want a satisfying resolution. See - King and Doris Egan, you and I, all know something that most TV writers don't seem to get - which is there is a big difference between writing a novel and just seeing what it evolves and doing that with a TV series. We can go back and make Chapter 1 fit Chapter 20 before we publish it. They can't do that.
They are stuck with Chapter 1. They can go back and look at it. Rewatch it. But they can't change Chapter 1.

Egan discussed Smallville on her blog about a year or so ago. She does a long explanation about where she thought Smallville was going when she joined the writing team. And discovered that no, the writers had not developed a five year or even a two year plan - they were in fact throwing stuff on the screen to see what stuck. It was not about Clark and Lex and their emotional journeys, but just whatever they thought would make the fans go squee! LOL! I've summarized. She says it a lot nicer than I just did or Fury does about Lost for that matter. But when I read it, it explained quite a bit. I'm not sure if I saved it as a memory or not. I don't think I did. And I'm not sure I could find. She wrote is sometime in 2004, I think.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

And that's why I don't watch Lost or Smallville anymore. The writers burned me too many times. buffyannotater said he was seriously thinking about quitting Smallville because Gough and Millar (the showrunners) could never get their sh** together and produce two good episodes in a row. I tend to agree. The Lex/Clark story--the birth of a classic rivalry--has been so thoroughly mishandled that I can't even watch the wonderful Michael Rosenbaum without choking on my disappointment.

As for Lost, the showrunners are talking out of both sides of their mouths. Don't worry folks, we have a plan! Uh, actually, we're just letting the series evolve naturally. We're not sucking up to the Jack/Kate or Kate/Sawyer 'shippers....except we are. Too many blind alleys and fake-outs and not enough character or plot progression. I don't even care about "the answer" anymore, because I don't believe the writers will set it up properly.

Paula loves procedurals, especially the CSIs--yes, even CSI: Miami, even though I mock her relentlessly for her Caruso Love. (She tapes them all and watches while I'm out of mocking range.) But ever since Lost went down the toilet, I've developed an affection for Criminal Minds, mainly because of Thomas Gibson's Hotch. It's such a huge swing from his Dharma and Greg days that it almost seems to be a different actor.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL! That's just so ironic. You've managed to marry a woman who is addicted to the very tv shows that you used to mock, rip to pieces, and declare profound hatred for. But what the hey, it's just tv. TV is well tv.

Criminal Minds and Numbers - are the best of the bunch. You should check out Numbers. Tried both.
They bore me, but that's just because I'm burnt out on the genre and have learned that the characters never evolve, never change. Basically they are just boiler-plate murder mysteries. The only one I like is The Closer - which seems more character driven and reminds me of Prime Suspect.

And you are, unfortunately right about both Smallville and Lost. Am getting very close to giving up on Lost. Except I sort of find the insane social psychology experiment aspect of it oddly intriguing.
That said - no clue how long I'm going to be able to tolerate a bunch of bored surburban social psychologists torturing a plane crash survivors on a bizarre island, even if the plane crash survivors in question have questionable morals. Last episode, I thought, ah, finally, a character who has not inadvertently or intentionally killed anyone in their past. Cool. Gave up on Smallville a long time ago, although will admit - I did watch bits and pieces of it last season to catch Marsters as Brainiac. And ended up feeling sorry the actor. Smallville was that bad.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

LOL! That's just so ironic. You've managed to marry a woman who is addicted to the very tv shows that you used to mock, rip to pieces, and declare profound hatred for.

Hee. Well, we both knew what we were getting into. Besides, I have sooooo much fun with my Caruso imitation.

CJL: Paula? [Stands straight, arms akimbo, tilts head, not looking directly at her; long, weighty pause] Did you walk the dogs?
PAULA: Cut it out.

I've watched Numbers on and off for a few years now, mainly because of David Krumholz's Charlie Epps and Judd Hirsch as the senior Epps. The "different brothers" dynamic between Krumholz and Rob Morrow is pretty good, but I find the egghead eccentrics more interesting than the Feds. Ravi Nawat, who was amazingly good in "Damage" (Angel S5) is wasted here...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Had more or less the same reaction to Numbers - I liked the eggheads better than the Feds and the figuring out of the mathematical equations. Which may be what distinguishs the show from all the other ones. The rest...sigh, you've seen one CSI/Law & Order - you've seen them all.

Paula's lucky in her tv tastes. Because - The plus side of having conventional tastes in TV (ie. loving procedurals, tv game shows, reality shows, and talk shows which everyone else loves) - is you NEVER have to worry about your tv show being cancelled. You don't even really have to bother taping the things - they are all repeated. Was discussing this with a friend over dinner last night - stating how my difficulty with TV is I tend to have unconventional tasts, it's rare that a show I adore is not cancelled. I'm always surprised when they aren't.

Case in point: Seinfield - was almost cancelled in its first two seasons, you had to hunt for it.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it's status was always up in the air. Angel? Ditto. American Gothic - made it one season. Now and Again - one season. Hill Street - it kept jumping nights and was in the ratings basement. St. Elsewhere - ditto. Homicide Life on The Streets - ditto. Cheers- ditto.
When Seinfield, Cheers, and Homicide got popular? I lost interest. Then there's Wonderfalls, Firefly, Joan of Arcadia, Action, the Others, Space Above and Beyond, Earth 2, Battlestar Galatica (the first version), Bablyon 5 (got cancelled, came back), La Femme Nikita ( cancelled pulled back at the last possible moment). Fame. The list is endless.

My friend, who dislikes Studio 60, looked at me in compassion and said..."You're probably surprised it even made it on the air."

Yep.

LOL! on your David Caruso. Poor Paula.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL! Actually you might get away with it - remember you are dressed as Mary Kate Olsen and her cojoined twin. Oh, when I read that I just couldn't stop laughing at the image. Priceless.
The meme sort of ruines the joke though by giving someone else the same costume. One person did it and four of their friends came as Mary Kate. Four came naked. And three didn't get candy.